It's pretty much common knowledge that Gotham is the worst of the worst out of the major cities around it, Central city, Star city, and Metropolis being the nicest ones of course. Gotham is the cesspool where junkies line the streets the homeless panhandle for money the mob still holds strong in some areas and nut cases break out of Arkham to run rampant in the streets. The latter more than most would like, especially the Joker, every time that man got out the whole city is flipped onto its head for weeks. Everyone who lives in Gotham knows the unwritten rules of the city, don't be out after dark if you can avoid it, keep out of the alleys, keep your nose out of business that isn't yours and you'll be golden. Marley has followed the unwritten rules of Gotham for the two years since she had moved and they hadn't failed her yet but at the current moment she was struggling with the unwritten rules and her overwhelming curiosity.

She had been sitting on her couch, reading a book her cat curled up on her lap when and ungodly bang rang from the fire escape just outside her window sending her cat tearing off her lap leaving claw marks in his wake. She jolted from her relaxed position nearly falling onto the floor in her attempt to get lower to avoid any bullets (should it be necessary) her book hitting the hardwood floor with a dull thump as her head snapped towards the window. The blinds were pulled and the thick curtain in place, blocking any low lighting from the floor lamp behind her couch seeping through, giving away that she was awake.

As she waited eyes locked onto the window she heard nothing and after a few agonizing minutes of fighting with herself about what to do Marley crawled over to the window and slowly pushed aside the edge of the curtain and the blinds to peek out onto the fire escape. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness she saw a human shaped lump and as she squinted she took in some more features, a dark colored jacket and a dark red helmet. Gasping she pulled back from the window as she realized who was crumpled outside her window, pinching the bridge of her nose shoving her glasses up in the process Marley weighed the idea of how stupid she wanted to be. Apparently 'very' was going to win tonight, climbing to her feet she opened the curtains and lifted the blinds half way, unlocked and shoved up the window.

Poking her head out she quickly looked around making sure no unlikeable surprises would pop out at her, seeing none she climbed out the window onto the escape and crouched next to the crumpled man. She couldn't tell if he was awake or not with the helmet, stupidly she reached out and nudged him and yanked back waiting when nothing came she sighed in relief. Shifting around him Marley hooked her arms under his armpits and tugged him into a semi-sitting position and managed to get him resting against the wall under her window. Climbing back into her apartment careful not to knee him in the face (more out of concern for her knee than his face) she tucked her arms back under his, her chin nearly on his shoulder and pulled.

"Oh, dear god why are you so heavy." She huffed as she finally got his torso through the window she gasped as she nearly dropped him she fell to her knees his back and shoulders hitting her lap while the rest of him hit the floor. "You probably would of been safer out there." She sighed setting him down to shut and lock the window and close the curtain.

Looking back she finally got a good look at him tan leather jacket black pants, ripped black shirt and... dear sweet baby Jesus, she took a small step back as she noticed the two guns strapped at his belt and what looked to be a dagger on his thigh. Breathing in deeply through her nose she went on looking him over and it honestly looked like he got in a fight with the business end of a chainsaw and lost. His clothes were torn and covered in blood, she hoped it wasn't all his she did not need a dead vigilante in her apartment, she did not want to explain that to the cops or Batman, oh God she needed to make sure he didn't die she did not want Batman knocking on her window. Turning she practically ran to her bathroom and dug around under her sink; finally finding the first aid kit her older sister had given her as a joke when she found out she was moving to Gotham.

"Joke's on you Tracy." She muttered, standing she grabbed three towels and went back to the living room, setting everything down she went to the kitchen filled a metal mixing bowl with warm water and pulled out a new pair of yellow gloves that would not serve their intended purpose of washing dishes. Going back to the unconscious man's side she crouched down, sitting on the balls of her feet and studied his helmet, brows drawn and lips pursed she reached her decision, reaching out she tilted his head trying to find a snap or something to get it off. His hand shot up gripping her wrist painfully, causing her to scream and fall back landing on her ass, on the upside she was free from his grip on the downside he was trying to sit up.

"H-hey wait don't move." Marley crawled back over and pushed his shoulder down. "You're pretty fucked up, looks like you fought a chainsaw or a wood chipper." He growled something she couldn't hear and went on. "I was only trying to help, I figured you would be able to breathe better with that thing off but whatever I'll leave it if you want." He didn't answer thinking he passed back out Marley leaned over him and jerked back when his hand moved up towards his head then thumped back onto the floor. Slowly reaching up her eyes flicking from his hands to his head she slipped the red helmet from his person and set it beside her, she huffed when she saw the red domino mask over his closed eyes.

Shaking her head she grabbed the gloves and pulled them on and flipped open the first aid kit, grabbing the medical scissors she cut up the center of his already tattered shirt and peeled it away from his blood covered skin and sucked in a breath as she took in all the cuts and gashes. Dropping the scissors to the floor she grabbed one of her towels then dipping it into the bowl she wiped away the blood on his chest and stomach revealing the severity of the wounds. Most of them were small cuts that would heal on their own, a bandaid would stop their bleeding, a few others would need medical glue to keep them closed. The worst one was a deep cut across his chest about the length of her hand. That one would need stitches, shaking her head she continued wiping the blood away, tossing the first towel away she grabbed another and used it to pat away the water from his skin and then held the towel to the worst wound as she shook off one of her gloves to dig through the first aid kit. Finding the small suture kit she dropped it to the floor and went back to the kit to find the lidocaine spray finding the small can she set it on the floor.

Looking at the gloves she let out an irritated sigh as she came to the conclusion that she couldn't wear them and do something as delicate as stitching up a wound, curling up her lips she shook off the other glove. Peeling away the towel to check the wound she saw the bleeding had slowed pressing the towel back down. She opened the suture kit and threaded the needle, popped the lid off the lidocaine and moved the now blood covered towel and tossed it with the other. Shaking the can she doused the wound in the spray setting the can aside she waited for it to kick in before she set about stitching the wound, the job made her stomach roll as she pushed the needle through his skin and tugged as it slid closed. She used a simple cross stitch, seeing it was the only one she knew and was distantly thankful her grandmother had forced her into sewing telling her it was a 'life skill' well it was certainly helpful right now.

Done with the stitching she tied it off and snipped the thread and grabbed the tube of antibiotic cream and smeared a generous amount across the stitches. Then covered it with a pad of gauze looking over the man she sighed and started on his lesser injuries wiping away blood and applying gauze and skin glue; forty-five minutes later she was done. Grabbing the gloves and the bowlful of bloody water and the used suture kit she went to her kitchen pouring the water in the sink she threw the rest out and went back to pack up her first aid kit. As she did her eyes fell on her blood covered towels, she decided to just throw them out abandoning the kit she grabbed the ruined towels and shoved them in the trash can. She washed her hands scrubbing them longer than necessary. Once done, she grabbed the kit off the floor and took it back to the bathroom stopping at her room she grabbed a large green men's tee shirt she used as a sleep shirt and went back to the living room. Tossing the shirt on the couch she looked over to the unconscious man and the weapons still strapped to his person, should she take them? They couldn't be comfortable to sleep with, running a hand through her brown hair she walked over and crouched down looking him over.

The guns were on a belt that snapped around his waist and the dagger was in a sheath that was buckled to his thigh, that one seemed the easiest. Slowly, afraid he would suddenly gain consciousness and grab her again like before she undid the buckles holding the dagger. Setting it on the floor next to her she breath in deeply and leaned over him pulling the gun out of the holster. She nearly dropped it, not expecting it to weight as much as it did setting it on the floor with the dagger, barrel pointed away. Leaning over him again she unsnapped the belt and shimmed the holster off the belt itself then slowly tugged it out from under him. Watching his face the whole time, once the belt was free Marley fixed the holster and replaced the heavy gun grabbing the dagger she set it all on the coffee table. She didn't really want to leave him on her floor but he was much too heavy for her to get him onto her couch so picking up a throw pillow and the blanket off the back of her couch she went back over lifting up his head she slid the pillow under it and covered him with the throw.

Looking at her wall clock Marley saw it was 2:10, she had been messing with him for nearly two hours, going back to her room she grabbed the blanket off her bed and trudged her way back to the living room. Dropping it on the couch she moved the tee shirt to the table with the guns and dagger going to the kitchen she grabbed a bottle of water and the painkillers out of her purse seeing a pad of Post-It notes she set everything down grabbed a pen from her bag and scribbled out a note. Picking everything up she placed the water, pills and Post-It with the small pile on the coffee table, grabbed her book off the floor curled up on the couch pulling the blanket over her. Then gave a final look at the man on her floor, and sighed to herself.

'Well Marley, you have Red Hood passed out on your floor, and mom said Metropolis would be more exciting.' She thought leaning back into the soft couch with her book.

XXXXXX

He woke with a start, eyes snapping open and his body tensing up, staring at the tan ceiling he felt the shift of something soft against his skin. Sitting up he felt the recognizable pull of stitches, looking down he saw gauzes and cartoon cat band-aids scattered over his torso. A blue blanket was pooled on his lap his boots were still on but his weapons were missing, gazing around the room he saw his things sitting on a coffee table. Slowly he stood and took in more of the room, it was a studio apartment a small kitchen sat in the back, a hallway was off to the right and a large bookcase was against the wall near the front door and a plethora of potted plants were scattered across the apartment. Moving to the table he stopped as he reached it and looked at the woman sleeping curled up under a thick brown blanket a cat curled by her feet. She looked tiny if her outline under the blanket was anything to go by, maybe only five two, she had wavy brown hair one of her hands was curled up by her face and the other was hanging off the side of the couch her fingers brushing the floor. He watched as she took in slow steady breaths she was actually asleep, he wondered how such a tiny woman got him into her place. Plus why would she help him, was she stupid? With a shake of his head he grabbed the shirt on the table and pulled it on, ignoring the pull of the stitches then strapped his weapons back on.

He saw the bottle of pain medicine and bottle of water and the lime green post-it note, grabbing the meds and water he took three then grabbed up the post-it out of curiosity. Reading it he bite back a snorting laugh, this tiny woman was ballsy, he liked it, tucking the post-it into his pocket he glanced at the wall clock it was nearly five am. Looking back at the woman again he grabbed his helmet and walked to the window shifting the curtain and blinds he unlocked it and slid it up. Looking out to make sure no one was around he slipped out and shut the window, scaling the fire escape to the roof he tugged his phone from his pocket and saw messages and missed calls from Dick and even a short disinterred message from the new brat Robin. Ignoring them he moved across the roof then jumping to the next one moving towards his bike, he needed to get to his safehouse and fix his wounds not knowing if the small woman knew what she was doing.

Reaching his safehouse he pulled off the shirt as he walked towards the cabinet holding his medical supplies peeling off the largest gauze he looked down at the stitching and his brow lifted. Well it wasn't terrible but it wasn't as tight as it should be, the scaring would be worse and it would take longer to heal than if they were tight. pulling off the rest of the gauze and cartoon cat band-aids he tossed them in the trash and cleaned and re applied antibiotic cream to his wounds. Dropping onto the couch swinging his booted feet onto the table his head rolled back onto the couch and his eyes closed, his phone vibrated in his pocket. Sighing he fished it out and answered.

"What?"

"Where have you been?" Dick barked on the other end.

"Medical attention." Was his short reply.

"You could have answered me, we didn't know what happened to you and Bats was pissed."

Rolling his eyes. "I was busy not bleeding out and when isn't he pissed at me."

A heavy sigh came across the line. "Where are you now?"

"A safehouse."

"You going to tell me which one?"

"Nope, don't want you bothering me, I'm tired, be in eventually."

"Don't yo-" The rant was cut off as he ended the call and tossed his phone to the table.

Shifting on the couch he sunk further down and closed his eyes and went back to sleep, wondering if he was going to fulfill the tiny, sassy womans request.

XXXXXX

It had been two weeks since she had tugged a large, bleeding vigilante in through her window off of her fire escape and patched up his injuries after nearly having a heart attack when he woke up and grabbed her wrist. She woke up the next day and found him gone her blanket and pillow still on the floor the water bottle half empty and her post-it note gone, she went about her life after that not thinking anything of it. She stepped out of her shower and scowled at her one single towel, she would have to break down and buy more, huffing she walked to her room and dried off then changed into a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top. Grabbing her new book she strolled to the kitchen and set about making a cup of tea and a sandwich, using her book as a tray she set her plated sandwich on it and went to the couch. Curling up, tucking her knees in she read her book and ate. She was nearly done with her food when a sharp tap at her window had her jumping dropping the turkey sandwich to the floor and her book tumbled to her lap.

Looking over to her window she stared at the black curtains waiting for something to happen another tap came and she shifted scuttling back to the far end of her couch and slipping to the floor. Scooting back behind the arm of her couch she peeked over the edge of it and waited, nothing more happened. What if it was Red Hood, what if he was hurt again? Biting the inside of her cheek she crawled across her floor to the window and shifted the corner of the curtain and blind and looked out, once her vision adjusted she saw a bag. Her stomach churned and she dropped the curtain thinking over what could be in it she pushed all the awful things to the back of her mind and slid behind her window covering and unlocked the window. Sliding it up she peeked around then slowly reached out hooking a single finger in the handle of the paper bag she pulled it closer as she looked in she chanted silently.

'Please don't be a severed head, please don't be a severed head, please don't b-'

"Huh?" Looking in the bag she saw a note setting on top of a towel, grabbing the bag she slipped back into her apartment and shut and locked her window. Sitting back down on her couch she read over the note.

Sassy woman,

Here's your towels, red hides blood better.

RH

With a smirk she pulled out three fluffy red towels and laughed.

XXXXXX

This is a one shot for now but if enough people like it or I feel like it I can turn it into a multi-chapter.